Disclamer: I still own nothing.

Author's Note: This is the chapter when things start to get weird. If I'm lucky, I'll have 2 more chapters up by the end of the week. :P (And I know the friggen summary claims to have SCxDQ moments, and I assure you, it will... eventually...)

"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH! LET ME GO, YOU GOD-DAMNED PIRATE!" the enraged voice of Ling Tong rang out throughout the entire prison boat. "YOU STUPID PIRATE! UNTIE ME THIS INSTANT! IF YOU HAD ANY GUTS AT ALL, YOU'D UNTIE ME AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN! AAAAAAA-"

An exasperated, and highly irritated Gan Ning finally clamped his hand over the younger man's mouth. "Will you SHUT UP?" he finally yelled. "You haven't shut up since I tied you up! Now unless you want to join your father, you MIGHT want to make shutting up a priority!"

Gan Ning flung Ling Tong into the small jail quarters, where he landed head-first on the ground. "Ow!" he whined.

"Is that all you do? Whine and yell?" Gan Ning complained. Ling Tong rolled over and wiggled around, trying to break free, (since Gan Ning tied him up around his ankles, knees, waist, wrists, arms, and tied him up completely to avoid any more hits on the back of the head with a nunchaku) but he sure didn't look intimidating. (No, this is not h0t ya0i b0ndage pr0n. Get your mind out of the gutter.)

"Excuse me, Lord Gan Ning," a troop said, pushing past the pirate. "We need to drop this off..."

"What the hell is that?" Ning asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sure doesn't look like anything Huang Zu would w... wait a god damned minute, PULL THAT BLANKET OFF."

"Err..." the troop cautiously removed the bloody blanket, revealing the body of a rather young woman... with dark red hair and a red headband. (No, she is not naked; she has her clothes on. Get your mind out of the gutter.)

"What the...? Where did you find her?" Gan Ning demanded, trying not to let the concern show.

"We saw her on her horse, and Huang Zu ordered us to shoot her down, sir," the troop replied.

"Geez," Ling Tong commented. "Talk about obedience."

"WHO SHOT HER DOWN?" the enraged pirate screamed, kicking Ling Tong in the head to make him shut up. ("OW! You COULD say please, you know!")

"Err... HE DID!" the troop said, pointing to his accomplice.

Gan Ning let out an angry roar and sliced the guy's head off, causing it to roll off his shoulders and land somewhere near Ling Tong.

"Ew," Ling Tong whined. "Get this disgusting head away from me before I throw up!"

"I AM GOING TO RIP YOUR THROAT OUT," Gan Ning snarled, turning around and glaring at Ling Tong.

"Sorry."

"AS FOR YOU," Gan Ning said, kicking the other troop in the stomach, "YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE! STAY AWAY FROM THE GIRL, OR I'M GOING TO RIP YOU APART!"

The guy lost his nerve, dropped Shang Xiang's body, and ran off, terrified.

Gan Ning collected Shang Xiang's body and laid her down on some hay. "Yeah... she's definitely out cold..." he muttered, flipping her over to get a better look at the wound on her back. "Yeesh. Those bastards hit her pretty hard."

Ling Tong looked irate. "Get your filthy hands off the princess! I swear, when I get my hands on you, I'm gonna... I'm gonna..."

"Gonna what? Will you shut up already? You're REALLY starting to annoy me," Gan Ning growled.

"YOU FCKING PIRATE! YOU KILLED MY FATHER! I SHOULD RIP THROUGH THESE BONDS RIGHT NOW AND TEAR YOU APART! NOW QUIT MOLESTING THE PRINCESS AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!" Ling Tong screamed.

"That does it, SHUT UP," Gan Ning growled. "You see that pile of horse shit? Unless you want me to stick your annoying face in there, SHUT YOUR FCKING MOUTH! I'M SICK OF YOU GIVING ME CRAP!"

Back at the Wu castle, the Two Qiaos were sitting in the nursery. Xiao Qiao had recently given birth to a boy, Zhou Yin, around maybe a month ago, (creative, I know) and the hyper Qiao sister was nursing.

"Aww, sis, isn't he cuuuute!" Xiao Qiao said, squealing to her sister.

Da's eyes welled with tears. Sure, the baby was cute, not to mention her nephew, but every time a new baby was born in the castle it broke her heart to think she hadn't been able to bear her husband an heir to the kingdom.

Xiao Qiao noticed. "Sis... I'm sorry," she said, obviously sympathetic with her sister. "Don't worry about it! Keep your chin up, and something great'll happen!"

Da Qiao looked at her sister. "I admire your optomism, Xiao Qiao..." she said sadly.

"Sis... remember that time when Dong Zhuo captured us? And you were pacing, terrified of something bad happening, and I said to chill out, and something would happen to save us? You remember what happened, right?"

A nostalgic (wow! I knew that word!) smile spread across the older Qiao's lips. How could she forget, the day she first met and fell in love with Lord Sun Ce.

They had been arranged to be married a long time ago, but Da Qiao wasn't going to see her husband's face until their wedding day. Remembering the handsome young man, who burst through the castle doors, raced to her, held his hand out to her and said, "Hey, I'm Sun Ce. Are you Da Qiao?"

She had nodded, quite suprised. Sun Ce cheerfully said, "Cool! We're getting married!"

"Oh... magnificent," she had replied, still quite scared.

"Don't be scared! C'mon, take my hand so we can get outta here!" Sun Ce said. Da Qiao had taken his hand, remembering the way his fingers interlocked perfectly with her own. "I... I..."

But Sun Ce had already scooped her up in his arms and raced off, screaming "BRING IT ON!" to any Dong Zhyo troops that dared confront him.

"Sis? SIS?" Xiao Qiao said, alarmed.

Da Qiao shook herself awake. "Hmm? Oh... oh, I'm sorry. I was just... oh, nevermind..."

Xiao placed her son down and gave her sister a hug. "It'll be okay, sis. Don't be sad. If Lord Sun Ce was still alive, he'd want you to be happy!"

Da smiled at her sister. "Thank you, Xiao Qiao... excuse me, please..." She shook out of her sister's arms and hurried to her chambers.

All of a sudden, she wasn't feeling too well... Feeling the urge to regurgitate, she hurried to the chamberpots (did they have toilets back then? i doubt it) and threw up. (no sense beating around the bush.)

Throw... up? Da Qiao looked at the vomit in the toilet and felt pure joy, as if she'd just thrown up a million dollars instead of her lunch. "I... could it be? Could I be pregnant?" she wondered.

(To answer everyone's questions, yes, she is pregnant. Apparently she and Sun Ce were busy before he died and it took 2 years for her to get pregnant.)

(back to SSX POV; she's dreaming)

"Shang Xiang... Shang Xiang! Wake up!"

Huh?

"You heard me, Shang Xiang... it's me, your big bro!"

What? Ce!

The one and only! How've you been?

Ce? What the hell? How can this be happening? Are you real?

No, I'm a figment of your imagination used to portray the abstract concept of thought. Of course I'm real! Don't be stupid!

Oookay... so, how's it going, Ce-man?

Pretty good, about as good as being dead gets. Listen, Shang Xiang... you're asleep. You're being held hostage by a creepy pirate. I need you to become my kick-ass and sometimes creepy little sister and kick this guy's ass. Oh, and Ling Tong got himself captured again. You might want to recognize him.

Say WHAT?

Time to wake up, Shang Xiang... see ya later...

(For those of you who are confused, SSX is dreaming about Sun Ce, who's telling her everything that just happened.)

I woke up pretty groggily, and jumped. It's not everyday you wake up with a pirate looking at you.

"Hey... you're... you're Gan Ning!" I said.

"Yeah, no shit. Didn't I tell you to get out of here!" he snapped.

"Y-yeah... I WAS leaving, when your stupid archers shot me down!" I said angrily. I don't care HOW good looking this guy is, I don't take any crap from anybody!

"Yeah, whatever. Look, Huang Zu's coming and he's going to kick my ass if he sees me. So if you've got a plan to escape, now would be the time to hear it."

"Well, I was thinkin-- LING TONG? What happened to you?" I said, jumping off the hay, pushing Gan Ning aside and leaning down to untie my friend.

"Princess! You've FINALLY woken up! Untie me so I can KILL THIS ASSHOLE!" Ling Tong said, happy to be free.

"Yeah... whatever, hang--"

I stopped with Gan Ning pointing his sword to Ling Tong's throat. "Untie him, and it's the last thing he'll ever do," Ning warned.

AN: Ooh, cliffy. I've got Da Qiao pregnant with Sun Ce's baby, and Gan Ning's got a blade to Ling Tong's throat. Plus, I've got a little love triangle going on, GNxSSXxLT, (it'll be a love square soon-- Liu Bei'll be showing his ugly face sooner or later) Updates will be quick, as usual. So, tell me what you want to see:D